L Is Kira
by Charlie Waffles
Summary: What if L had found the Death Note instead of Light? What would have happened? WARNING: Possible name/plot spoilers, Appearance of my version of Deneuve/Danuve, Shinigami B/BB, Living A, Dead Eraldo Coil, Evil L, Innocent Light. AU. (ADOPTED by XxVongola-DetectivexX)
1. Introduction

**Disclaimer: You know what that means...**

Unless a shinigami specifically hands a Death Note over to a human, there is no telling of where it will land. If a shinigami simply drops their Death Note into the human world, from the Shinigami Realm, there is no way to be sure of exactly where it will land. Granted the shinigami may have a general idea of where the Death Note will land, but not exactly where it will land.

In other words, it was by pure chance – and by pure chance alone – that Ryuk's Death Note landed right outside of Light Yagami's high school, and it was purely a coincidence that it landed outside of his high school just as he happened to be looking outside the window of his classroom.

The question is: What if the Death Note had landed somewhere else? What if someone else had gotten their hands on the Death Note instead of Light Yagami? What if that very someone just so happened to be one of the most brilliant people on the planet?

That's right. The real question is: What if L had been the one to get his hands on the Death Note _instead_ of Light Yagami? What would have happened?

Well, that is exactly what this story is about. The Death Note ended up in L's hands; not Light's.

**Author's Note:**

**So this chapter is not really a chapter in the story. It's really just a prologue to introduce you all to the idea I have in mind.**

**Updates will be slow for this and all of my other stories since I am rushing to get my summer homework finished.**

**Reviews=Love**

**V**


	2. Prologue

**Disclaimer: You know what that means...**

It was a bright, cool November afternoon when Ryuk the shinigami decided that the best way to relieve his boredom would be to drop one of his Death Notes – the stolen one – into the Human World. He had dropped it from one of the portals in the Shinigami Realm, and it just fell and fell and fell.

The Death Note really could have landed anywhere, and no matter where it landed, Ryuk would have been satisfied. It could have landed right outside of Light Yagami's high school or Sayu Yagami's middle school. It could have landed in a random park, at a bus stop, or even on the roof of a major corporation. It even could have landed on a mountain top, in the middle of a forest, in a volcano, or in a cave. It truly could have landed anywhere.

It was only a coincidence that the Death Note happened to land inside L's hotel room on a day when he just so happened to be in Japan.

Why did the Death Note phase through walls, ceilings, and the roof of a hotel in order to finally land inside of L's hotel room? Who knows? It just did.

On this bright, cool November afternoon, L was crouching – in that unusual way of his – on the floor, in the dark, while staring at his computer. He was currently working on a few cases, all of which were very simple for him to solve.

It was as he finished one of these "simple" cases, that he heard a quiet thump against the floor in his hotel room.

He immediately shut off his computer and braced himself to have to fight someone. He wondered how it was possible for someone to get into his room of all rooms and decided that he'd have Watari go through extra precautions when finding him a hotel suite next time.

Very stealthily, L got up from his position on the floor and walked over to a nearby light switch. He turned it on and quickly took a look around the room. No one besides himself was in this room, though there was a dark black notebook sitting on the floor.

L tilted his head to the side in confusion and walked over to the notebook, lifting it by pinching it between his thumb and index finger. He read the words on the cover and muttered "Death Note? Hmm…"

He then began to look through the notebook and read everything written in it, after crouching on the ground. *Is this some sort of childish prank perhaps? No. The chances of that being the case are extremely low seeing as how this is Japan and the writing is all in English. The average Japanese person would not try to put all of these 'rules' in English. The type of person that would even do such a prank as this is the type of person that is not too bright, and therefore it is highly unlikely that such a person would be fluent in English… I should see if there is any validity to what these 'rules' say… Who should I test it on?... Hmm… I'll think about it later. I should probably get back to solving other cases right now…*

**Author's Note:**

**Yes this chapter is very short, but this is another prologue-type chapter. Don't worry, the next chapter will be longer and will not be another prologue-type chapter.**

**Reviews=Love**

**V**


	3. One

**Disclaimer: You know what that means...**

L picks up the Death Note a little while later and takes another look at it. *Hmm… If someone were to die, would that make me a murderer? I guess it would… Just in case this 'Death Note' actually works, I should be sure to test it on someone the world would be better off without. And there must be a way for me to find out immediately whether or not the person is dead, without appearing suspicious. Hmm… The news. Of course.*

L walks over to the living room in the suite while carrying the Death Note. He then turns on the television in his hotel room to the channel 6 news and listens to the news report after taking a seat on a nearby sofa.

"The man who indiscriminately killed and wounded six people yesterday in Shinjuku is still barricaded inside this school, with eight hostages, including little children. The metropolitan police have determined the man's identity. He is Kurou Otoharada, 42 years old and unemployed. Two days ago, Otoharada…"

*Hmm… Perhaps I should test this 'Death Note' on him. A criminal… That doesn't sound like such a bad idea…*

L looks at the picture of the criminal on the news, grabs a random pen from nearby, and writes the man's name into the Death Note. *There. Forty seconds and the man will be dead from a heart attack.*

L counts the forty seconds in his head. *Well, it's been forty seconds… I guess this 'Death Note' doesn't actually work after all…*

"What's this…? The hostages are coming out! They all seem to be alright. And now the police are going in! Will they be able to arrest Otoharada?... They're coming back out!... But no sign of their captor just yet. What exactly is going on?... This just in! The captor is inside the nursery school, and he is dead! It appears Otoharada is dead!"

L's eyes widen. *Dead?*

"The police are emphasizing that they did _not_ shoot him. Could that mean he committed suicide? Well, the hostages are apparently saying he suddenly collapsed…"

*A heart attack? It could simply be a coincidence… Either way, I should have someone perform tests on this 'Death Note'… I can't have Watari send it over to anyone though since, if this notebook truly is able to kill people, then he will know that I've killed someone with it… That would certainly be bad… Who could I have test this? Who is able to do the job they're assigned stealthily, without alerting Watari or anyone else, and well?... Deneuve. I should have him perform tests on this… I shouldn't let him know _too_ much though, or else he'll be extremely suspicious… It's a good thing that I don't need to go through Watari to contact him.*

L then gets up from the sofa, turns off the television, and walks over to his computer. After going to a particular program, and typing in a specific and extremely long code, a large gothic-styled D appears on the screen. L then speaks into his computer's built-in microphone "Hello, Deneuve."

A few seconds later, an electronic computer voice responds "Hello, L. I apologize, but Deneuve is currently not here at the moment."

"Who is this that I'm speaking with then?"

"I am K. You seem to have forgotten that I am Deneuve's assistant."

"I see. I haven't heard from the two of you for a while now. Is Deneuve still upset with what happened?"

"No. Deneuve has moved on."

"I see. Well that's good to hear."

"So, L, what is it exactly that you wanted to speak with Deneuve about?"

"That is something that I can only discuss with Deneuve."

"Alright then. Goodbye."

The gothic-styled D then disappears from the screen, only to reappear a few minutes later. This time, the voice that comes from the computer is a regular human voice instead of an electronic one.

"Hello, L. I'm terribly sorry about that. K's in a bad mood today, so please pay her no mind."

"Of course. I understand."

"Ah. I see that when talking to me you still prefer to use the electronic voice… Such a shame. You actually have a nice voice, you know."

"Is this your way of attempting to flirt with me?"

"Haha. Very funny, L. No. You're not even my type… Anyway, what'd you want to talk about?"

"I need for you to perform a few tests on a few items and for you to not alert Watari about it in any way. Do you think you can handle that?"

"Of course. What are these tests for?"

"That information I cannot disclose with you."

"Ah. What a shame. You know that that's gonna bother me. Now I won't be able to sleep tonight… Such a shame… Oh well. I can do the tests for you though. I'll have K tell you where you can send the samples to today… It's actually a good thing you contacted me today seeing as how she and I will be on the move again starting tomorrow."

"Oh? Where are you right now?"

"France. It's such a lovely place, don't you agree? Anyway, I would like to stay here longer, but K keeps insisting that we move on. She's terribly paranoid, and she's such a workaholic too. If only she knew how to relax..."

"If she's working with you, I doubt that she's as awful as you claim she is."

"True. She's actually a good person for me to be around. She keeps me focused… She's going to make quite a detective someday."

"I thought she was merely your assistant?"

"Well she is my assistant, but she's also my protégé."

"I see. Was it your idea to call her 'K'?"

"Of course, L. I would very much love for her to surpass even you someday. Calling her 'K' keeps that idea in mind."

"Hmm… Well, alright then. Please have K tell me where I can send the items in question."

"Will do."

The gothic-styled D then disappears, only to reappear a few minutes later. L knows that K is the one speaking to him as he listens to where to send the items, because she is speaking with an electronic voice.

"Thank you very much, K." L says after K finishes telling him where to send the items to and how to send the items to them.

"You're welcome. Goodbye."

L then shuts off his computer and follows the instructions given to him by K in order to send Deneuve the samples to be tested. He scrapes off some of the ink in which the instructions in the Death Note were written in into a bag, he tears out a sheet of paper out of the Death Note and places that in a separate bag, and then he scrapes off some of the cover of the Death Note into a third bag.

Once he is done, he disguises himself and then walks out of the hotel to the post office.

Within a relatively short amount of time, L is able to send the samples off to Deneuve in a box and return to his hotel room.

Overall, L is feeling annoyed and not quite happy, though he is somewhat excited. He is annoyed with the fact that he had to go into public and that he is relying on Deneuve's assistance, he is upset with the fact that he may have actually committed murder, and he is somewhat excited by the idea that the Death Note may actually have supernatural abilities.

L's day has gone by relatively smooth today even with having the Death Note.

**-APPLES-**

It's too bad for Light Yagami that his own day is going by badly today even though he doesn't have his hands on the Death Note.

Today was not too terrible a day for Light for the most part. Classes were just as boring as usual, and nothing eventful happened… that is, until he was walking home from his college prep course.

It is as Light is walking home from his prep course that he sees a woman being harassed by a few men on motorcycles.

Now, Light is a smart boy, so of course the logical conclusion that you would expect him to come to is to not help the woman since he would very likely end up getting hurt. These men are a lot bigger and definitely stronger than him after all, and it is very obvious that they aren't too bright.

Well, you also need to take into consideration the fact that Light is a kind-hearted boy that actually cares about people right now since he hasn't been tainted by the Death Note yet.

As a result, Light decides against his better judgment to try and help the woman.

Light walks up to the men, blocking them from the woman, and begins talking. "Hey, can't you guys see that she's not interested in you? Just leave her alone."

One of the various men laughs. "Oh? So we've got ourselves a little hero here, eh?"

"Yeah. 'Leave her alone' he says. Haha."

"Yeah right, kid. Just go away."

Light stands his ground. "I don't think so. How about you all just go away?"

The men look at each other and then glare at Light. "Look, kid, just shut up and leave, and nobody gets hurt."

Light glances over his shoulder and sees the woman shaking. Light then glances at the men and sighs. *Just my luck, huh? What should I do?... It would probably be best to try and run away from these guys and pull her along with me… even though they've got motorcycles… Guess that plan's as good as any right now…*

Light then begins to try and walk away from the scene, pulling the woman along with him, but then the men surround him and her, and get off their bikes. They charge towards Light and begin punching and kicking him.

Light tries to get away, but is unsuccessful as one of the men grabs him, holding him in place despite his attempts to escape.

As Light is getting beaten, the woman is able to escape due to the fact that the men have forgotten all about her by now. The woman runs down the street and begins shouting for someone to please help the boy (Light) who is being brutally beaten by four large men.

Quite a few people look at her and then at the situation, yet continue walking rather than getting involved. When the woman runs up to a few people directly, most of them nudge her away and continue walking. Out of about forty people that come by, only two try to help get the men to stop beating the poor boy, and only about five people call the police (two of them being the ones who are trying to get the men to stop what they are doing).

A few minutes later police sirens can be heard coming towards the scene, and the men stop beating Light (who is now unconscious), and scramble onto their motorcycles to try to get away before the cops finally appear.

Three of the four men are able to get away, though one of the men is blocked from being able to leave by police cars blocking the way.

A few police cars head after the men who have escaped the scene while the rest remain at the scene of the incident.

Right now the one man that was blocked from being able to get away is sitting, handcuffed, inside one of the police cars, and various police officers are talking to the witnesses.

The woman Light was trying to protect at first is sitting near Light and is speaking with a police officer.

"Miss, what's your name?"

The shaken up young woman replies quietly "Arina Takahashi."

"And what's your relation to the victim?"

"He's just a stranger. I-I actually don't know who he is. Those guys were harassing me and then he came by and tried to get them to stop. Th-they then started to tell him that he should just go away. He didn't listen to them though. And then-And then they-they started to attack him when he tried to get us away from them!"

The woman begins crying and tears stream down her face. "He should've just listened to them at first! But he didn't! He didn't deserve this to happen to him! He was just trying to help me! And then when they were hitting him, and I tried to get people to help get them to stop, most people just kept walking and didn't try to help at all! What's wrong with people today?"

"Please calm down, Miss Takahashi. We have people searching for the other three men and an ambulance should be here shortly. We're going to need you to come down to the station if you're feeling alright though, okay?"

The woman nods her head glumly and starts crying again.

The cop sighs. *Great. Crime's really goin' up these days, huh?*

He then looks back at the boy (Light) who is now being put onto a stretcher and into an ambulance. *Damn that kid's been hurt bad. Poor kid, tryin' to be a Good Samaritan… Odd though. Even though he's badly beaten, I could swear that's the chief's kid. Nah, can't be…*

**Author's Note:**

**Wow. This chapter turned out to be longer and a lot different than I'd planned.**

**So yeah. This day went alright for L, and Light's day ended up being **_**worse**_** for him since he didn't have the Death Note. **

**In this story, Deneuve is a man. Granted many people think Deneuve is a woman, but that is simply because many of us wish that out of three of the top detectives in the world that one would be female. In actuality though, the world is still too sexist for one of the best detectives in the world to be female even if a female is more qualified. As a result, I believe Deneuve is a man. K is simply a character I made up to be Deneuve's assistant/protégé/successor; oh, and she is a girl by the way. Since no information other than Deneuve's name and the fact that Deneuve eventually became one of L's aliases after some point are mentioned within the Death Note series, the Deneuve in this story is practically an OC. He works for L now (and I'll explain how and why that is eventually), and while his name is one of L's aliases, L still refers to him as Deneuve. **

**Since the name of the woman who was being harassed in the beginning of Death Note by the men on motorcycles is never mentioned, I just randomly made up her name. Depending on how things go, she could actually become a main character in this story… Maybe.**

**Oh, if you're wondering why –APPLES– is the break I've decided to use for this story, it's just because the most popular object in the DN series is the apple. I'll probably use it in other stories of mine too from now on… Probably. **

**Reviews=Love**

**V**


	4. Two

**Disclaimer: You know what that means...**

"A few days ago, Light Yagami, son of the NPA's Chief of Police was involved in a mugging while trying to help a woman. He is currently in the hospital in critical condition…" Pictures of the victim in the ICU are shown along with his distraught family.

"The assailants are currently in police custody awaiting their charges. The perpetrators are Takuo Shibuimaru…" Pictures of the men appear on the screen with their names appearing beneath the pictures.

L crouches on the sofa scowling. *It seems that crime is increasing nowadays… How despicable. The kid was trying to be helpful and this is what happens to him? Hmm… Even though Deneuve hasn't told me the results yet on this 'Death Note'… Perhaps I should test it on these men. If all four men die from heart attacks, it will be fairly obvious that it is not simply a coincidence, and therefore means that this 'Death Note' actually works…*

L reaches over to the coffee table in front of him, and picks up the Death Note and a pen, bringing them over to himself. He then writes the men's names within the Death Note while picturing their faces. *Well that should do it. Forty seconds and they will all die from heart attacks.*

A little over a minute later, the reporter stops mid-sentence and then begins talking once more. "I have just been told that the perpetrators are dead! All of them from heart attacks! And at the same time too! I don't know what this means exactly, but, hey, I guess karma's just bit them in the- Uh, never mind… Right now they are currently being taken to the hospital, but chances are that they're all dead. Police are sure to look into their deaths seeing as how suspicious it is that they all dropped dead at the same time…"

*Hmm… Interesting… It would appear that this 'Death Note' really does possess the ability to kill people. All you need is knowledge of a person's name and face, and then you can kill them by writing their name into this notebook… A lot could be accomplished with this…*

L gets up from his position on the sofa and turns off the television. As he walks over to his computer, he sees a huge monster standing in the middle of the room with a huge grin spread across its face.

When L sees this, his eyes widen and he drops the Death Note. "W-what are you?"

The shinigami's grin widens. "I'm Ryuk, the shinigami who dropped that notebook. By now you should know it isn't just any old notebook… right?"

"A shinigami?... A 'death god'… I see… So the 'Death Note' is a 'death god's notebook' after all… I suppose that answers the question of whether or not it actually works and of whether or not it has supernatural abilities."

"Hyuk hyuk. You haven't used it yet?"

"Actually… I have…"

"Oh?" Ryuk goes over to the Death Note and picks it up off the floor. "Huh. So you've only used it on five people? Can't say I'm surprised since most people usually only use it on a few people. Guess you're nothin' special…"

L glares at the ugly creature. "Is that so? For your information, I am the best detective in the world."

"Hyuk hyuk. I'm not really impressed… Now if you had killed a couple hundred people or so by now I would be impressed by that, but you haven't, so I can't say I really care."

"What are you going to do to me now for having used this 'Death Note' of yours?"

"I'm not going to do anything to you. The moment a Death Note lands in the human world, it belongs to the human world. So it's yours now. You don't want it, give it to another human. When you do, I'll just have to erase all your Death Note memories… Oh, and since you've used what was my notebook, you're the only one who can see me. Nobody else can hear me either, of course. The Death Note is the bond between L the human and Ryuk the shinigami… Hyuk hyuk. You have a really odd name even for a human."

"Hmm… So there really is no price to pay for using the Death Note?"

"Well, not exactly… But there is the terror and torment that only human's who've used it will experience. And when you die, I'll be the one writing your name down. Oh, and don't think that any human who's used the Death Note can go to Heaven or Hell. That's all… You'll find out about that after you die."

"Can't go to Heaven or Hell… Well that just means that there is no Heaven or Hell, correct?"

"Huh? I thought all humans seriously believed in Heaven and Hell, but, yeah, you're absolutely right. There is no Heaven or Hell. No matter what you do while you're alive, everybody goes to the same place once you die… Death is equal."

"That is quite a relief."

"Why's that?"

"Because I'm an atheist. The idea of Heaven and Hell seems ridiculous, as do the religions from which they are based."

"Hyuk hyuk. Well that's good to hear… It would've been interesting though if you had thought of yourself as some kind of messiah and used the Death Note as a service to 'God'. Hyuk hyuk."

"Has anyone done such a thing before?"

"Of course. I personally haven't seen it happen, but I've heard stories of it happening when other shinigami came to the human world. Hyuk hyuk. Some of those humans went insane and thought the shinigami were 'demons'. Other ones were confused, but decided that they must've been 'angels'. You humans are really entertaining, you know."

"Did you plan on me, specifically, picking up this Death Note, or was it just a coincidence that I found it in the first place?"

"All I did was drop the notebook. It just happened to land somewhere around here and you just happened to pick it up… That's why I wrote the instructions in English – it's the most popular language in your world."

"I see. That makes much more sense than you choosing me or anything of the sort… That was quite an intelligent idea, writing the instructions in English… How is it that you know my name anyway, shinigami?"

"Hyuk hyuk. I can see it above your head. All shinigami can see humans' names and life-spans above their heads."

"Is it possible for humans to have this ability as well?"

"Yeah, if they make a deal with the shinigami that possesses their Death Note."

"What would be the consequences of such a deal?"

"Half the human's remaining life-span."

"Ah. Well then, I can say with absolute certainty that I have no interest in making that sort of deal… Is it possible for people that do not own a Death Note to have these 'Shinigami Eyes' as I assume you call them?"

"Uh, maybe… I don't really know…"

"Alright then. I was simply wondering since someone I knew told me how another person I knew always was able to know people's names and life-spans and that that was the reason they weren't entirely sane."

"Guess that makes sense. People can be driven insane by that knowledge, especially the 'seeing life-spans' part… Why so vague though?"

"I severely doubt that you would know who I was referring to."

"Try me."

"Well, as I am the best detective in the world, there is a place where children are taught in preparation to succeed me should I die. In the beginning, I had two successors, going by A and B. A and B were relatively close, even though B never really liked A much. A was always a nosy sort of person, and made sure that he could find out as much as he could about people. At some point, he learned that B was capable of knowing a person's name and life-span simply when he met them. A told me that B knew when both of his parents were going to die and pretty much when anyone was going to die."

"Did this 'B' person have a Death Note?"

"No. I can say this with certainty because a few years later, B left this place and went on to become a serial killer in hopes of making a case that I would be unable to solve."

"Wow. He really did go insane. Hyuk hyuk."

"Yes, he did. The question is though, how did he have Shinigami Eyes when he didn't possess a Death Note? If he had the Death Note, he would have simply been able to write the names of his victims within it rather than physically killing them himself. But, of course, it is not certain that he would have been able to control his victims' actions enough to make the crime scenes contain everything he wanted them to…"

"Well I don't know everything about things going on between humans and shinigami, so I don't know how the guy had Shinigami Eyes. So what happened to those two guys anyway?"

"A committed suicide sometime before B became a serial killer due to not being able to handle the pressure of being one of my successors, and B is in a prison in the United States since I was able to have him arrested for the murders he ended up committing… Seeing as how B committed his murders the way he did, I wouldn't be surprised if B had murdered A and had just simply made it appear as though A had committed suicide…"

"Wow… Hey, uh, are you gonna use the Death Note more or somethin' though? Cuz if you aren't then can you give it to some other human? I really only dropped the Death Note so I could be entertained."

"I will not be giving this to some other human. The probability of anything good resulting from that is practically zero percent. Besides, if some other human were to have possession of this notebook, then I would lose all of my memories relating to it, and when that person were to begin killing people for their own purposes, I would just have to find that person and arrest them, which would take me quite a while longer since I would have no memory of the Death Note… Granted that would be a very interesting case, but why would I give myself more work to do?"

"Well if you don't start using it more, I'll write your name in my Death Note and kill you. I came to the Human World to relieve my boredom, not to worsen it."

"I assure you that even if I do not use the Death Note that you will remain entertained. There are plenty of things that you can do."

"Alright then. Just remember that I don't like being bored."

"Of course. Neither do I."

"So are you gonna use the Death Note more?"

"Perhaps. It would be a good way to decrease the prison population and decrease the crime rate… I could change the world with this power…"

**-APPLES-**

A few days later Deneuve contacts L to tell him the results on the samples given to him. By now L has begun to kill a few of the worst criminals in the world, performing various tests on them with the Death Note all the while.

"L, K and I have tested the samples, and, well, it's really quite incredible. It seems that none of the items are made of any substance found naturally on Earth. Where did you find this stuff?"

"There was a particular scientist, who now happens to be deceased, that created those particles."

"Wow. So I'm guessing there's no more of this stuff, huh?"

"You are correct in your assumption. Now, please, remember to not mention anything about this to anyone. Understand?"

"Sure thing, L. No problem."

At this moment L hears a crash come from Denueve's side.

"Oh, sorry, L. Gotta go. It seems K's just broken something. Be back in a jif."

The gothic-styled D disappears from the screen and returns a few minutes later.

"Sorry about that, L. K can be a bit of a klutz sometimes."

"Well that is certainly something I wouldn't expect."

"Yeah… Anyway, is there anything else you need me to do?"

"No. That is all, thank you. Just enjoy your break for the moment."

"Sweet! Vacation time!"

"I'm starting to get the feeling that you gave your alias to me simply because you wanted an early retirement…"

"Hey, I'm just goin' with the flow here… I can't wait to check out the pyramids. That's gonna be awesome."

" Am I right to assume that you are in Egypt?"

"Yup. Even though K can tell me when we need to move, at least I get to determine where we go to. And I always make sure to go to places with a lot of tourist attractions… I'm thinking of going to Italy and China soon… Maybe Peru too… Hey, are there many cool things in Japan?"

"I wouldn't really know… And why is it that you are asking me about Japan?"

"Because I know you are in Japan. I'm not stupid, you know. I've noticed that sometimes when you talk to me you speak in the main language of wherever you are. When in France, you sometimes lapse into French. When in Germany, you sometimes lapse into German. So on and so forth. As a result, I pretty much always know where you are."

"I see. I never noticed. You only speak to me in English though, regardless of where you are."

"To be honest, no matter where I'm at or whether I'm working on a case or not I tend to speak in English… I usually use translators to communicate with people. I'm not too good with other languages… Oh well, I guess that's why you're the better detective. Being naturally gifted and whatnot."

"Ah. How well can K speak other languages besides English?"

"Oh, she's great. She can pick up a language within no time at all. It's thanks to her that I no longer have to bother to use translators… She usually can get into using the proper accent for the languages as well. Seriously. Her French is absolutely lovely. Oh, and her Japanese too."

"You seem to be preoccupied with France. Are you also preoccupied with Japan?"

"Eh? Oh, I just like French and Japanese. They're really pretty sounding languages… Well at least to me anyways… You know Japanese is sort of the Eastern equivalent to French, right?"

"Is that so? I never noticed. Is there anything in particular you need to discuss with me, Deneuve? If not, then I would like to end this discussion so that I may return to working on some of my cases."

"Oh. No. Sorry."

"Well then, goodbye, Deneuve."

"Yeah. Bye, L."

The gothic-styled D then disappears from the screen and L shuts off his computer, turning around to face the shinigami behind him that is munching on an apple.

"I see you like apples, Ryuk."

"Yeah, apples here are juicy, not like the apples in the Shinigami Realm."

"How is the Shinigami Realm?"

"Well, it's really boring there… Not much to do but gamble and nap… Killing humans from there isn't much fun, but I'm not able to kill other shinigami… It's kind of a barren wasteland and apples there are dry like sawdust… The place is kind of down in the dumps really…"

"I believe I understand why you wish to remain in the Human World. Am I right to assume that you are only able to remain here so long as a human has ownership of your Death Note?"

"Yeah."

"Do you actually need sustenance in order to survive?"

"No. I just like apples a lot… The only thing shinigami need to do to survive is to write humans' names into their Death Note."

"Do you own more than one of these Death Notes?"

"Yeah. There's the one you've got and then there's the one I have on me. I'm pretty sure shinigami can only give a human a Death Note if they have more than one Death Note."

"Interesting…"

L then begins to start thinking about more tests he can conduct on the worst criminals in the world…

**Author's Note:**

**Wow. This is the longest chapter I've ever written yet. Yay!**

**When it comes to the Death Note, L is slowly but surely increasing his killing rate. At the moment he is performing tests on the worst criminals in the world, so he doesn't feel as if he's doing anything really bad; basically he doesn't feel guilty about ANY of the deaths he's caused from using the Death Note, whereas Light did at first…**

**Unlike Light, L is making sure to find out all the facts about the Death Note and shinigami he can from Ryuk early-on. You will notice that L and Ryuk get along relatively well even though L isn't killing that many people or being very "interesting" yet, but that is simply because Ryuk is satisfied at the moment with snacking on apples and talking with L. Unlike when with Light, Ryuk actually doesn't mind answering questions for L. This is simply because L's a lot nicer to him than Light was about the whole "gaining information" process. **

**As you've probably realized by now, I will slowly but surely have stories about characters in this story be revealed. In this particular chapter I had L talking about A and B, who he will most likely talk about a bit more at some point. I also plan on having Deneuve and K's personalities and pasts revealed little by little as well. Granted, most of the time when Deneuve talks to L he probably will only be talking about irrelevant things, but there will always be something at least mildly important that Deneuve or L will mention during their conversations. The mildly important thing that was mentioned in their conversation in the chapter revolved around the languages they speak / are unable to speak.**

**Reviews=Love**

**V**


	5. Three

**Disclaimer: You know what that means... I'm done with writing disclaimers now...**

A few weeks later Light returns home from the hospital relatively healed.

The first thing Light decides to do when he finally comes home from the hospital is study for the college entrance exams since he hasn't been able to properly study for awhile now. While studying, he realizes that he already knows all of the content and decides to call that woman who he had been trying to protect from those thugs before he was put into the hospital.

Every day that he had been in the hospital the woman would come to visit him and would put fresh flowers in the vase by his bedside. At first she would continuously apologize, saying that it was her fault that he was in the hospital, but after awhile she stopped with the annoying apologies and they just started talking about whatever.

The woman was named Arina Takahashi and she was a freshman at To-Oh University. She was at the top of her class and had received the top score on the entrance exams at the beginning of the school year. She was majoring in the sciences and hoped to become a doctor someday.

After some time of coming to visit Light in the hospital, Arina started talking about the news a lot as things were getting very strange. Suddenly many criminals (especially ones on death row) were dying from heart attacks. No one could tell how it was that all these criminals were dying and no one had any idea of who was causing these deaths. Some people said that it was the work of "God" and others said it was the work of a serial killer or a powerful organization. Some criminal psychologists even suggested that this killer, going by the title "Kira," was actually L himself, even though L had done a test that practically proved that he wasn't Kira.

One of the days that Light was in the hospital, on a day shortly after the meeting between Interpol, a broadcast was shown in Japan (and supposedly around the world). In it, a man named Lind L. Tailor claimed that he was L and that what Kira was doing was evil, and even said that he'd catch this person and make sure he received the death penalty. Well, at some point Kira must have gotten angry since this man was killed by a heart attack, and L himself then began taunting Kira, telling him to kill him if he could. Overall a very convincing performance.

Pretty much everyone believed that there was no way that L was Kira now after what had happened, but of course this is what L wanted people to think. L and Kira actually are the same person, but it wouldn't do any good to have people knowing that.

Even Light and Arina were convinced by the broadcast, along with the NPA. They never even considered that L was just tricking them.

**-APPLES-**

A sits cross-legged on the floor in his hotel room and looks at the pictures of people from his past at Wammy's House that are splayed in front of him.

The room he is in is dingy, almost bad enough to be a motel room, and the air smells of dust. The place is so run-down that it is a miracle there aren't a bunch of roaches here. He doesn't bother to go anywhere near the bed since there is no guarantee that the sheets have been washed recently.

As A looks at the pictures, he notices that something is off. He glances at his picture of B and lifts it carefully, tilting his head side to side to make sure what he sees is correct.

After about a minute of staring at the photo, A grimaces and places the picture back on the ground. *So B is dead now huh? He wasn't supposed to die yet. In fact, he wasn't supposed to die for a few more years… Kira… Kira must have supernatural abilities. There's no other explanation for it… Should I tell L? No. He thinks I'm dead. Besides, he can probably solve this on his own. If not, he always has those other successors of his… Yeah, I should just stay out of this…*

Out of the corner of his eye A sees another thing that he finds difficult to believe. *No lifespan? That can't be right.* He then picks up his picture of L, which L doesn't even know exists anymore. *L Lawliet… L… Your lifespan no longer appears under your name? Interesting… Does this make you Kira? I hope not. If so the world is pretty much screwed… You might be Kira though… If that's the case, then I really do need to make sure you don't find out I'm still alive. After all, if you're Kira, then that means you killed B… But of course B was killed for having killed people and was on death row… Stupid B. He shouldn't have let his pride get the best of him. Competing against L in such a way was a dumb move on his part.*

A sets the picture back on the floor and sighs. *It's exactly because of all this drama that I left Wammy's. Best not to get involved… B helped me fake my suicide and there's no way L knows I exist. I should just leave this alone… But then again… It would be interesting to announce to the world that L is Kira… I can't just do that though… especially if he's not… Meh. I'll just leave this alone.*

A flops onto his back and puts his arms behind head to look at the slight cracks in the ceiling. *I wonder how Megan's doing… Who's side is she on now?...*

**-APPLES-**

"Hyuk hyuk. So you're finally making use of the Death Note huh, L?"

"… Yes. I figure I may as well test this notebook's abilities…"

*Yeah right. Why did you pull that little T.V. stunt then?* "Hyuk hyuk. Sure you're just testing it." *Don't wanna spoil the fun. Humans are more entertaining that way.*

**-APPLES-**

*So L is Kira…* B thinks as he stares through the viewing holes in the Shinigami Realm down at the Human World. *L killed me huh? Henh henh henh. Well he's going to be in for an interesting surprise now isn't he?*

**-APPLES-**

"Danuve. We need to be going now." Megan says while standing at the doorway of a luxurious Italian hotel suite, putting her bags on a luggage cart.

She hears the man (who is supposedly older than her) complain from the other room, "But we haven't even had a chance to check out the Coliseum!"

Megan rolls her eyes. "Listen you man-child. Our plane flight is booked for today. I suggest we leave now if you want any chance of seeing the Great Wall of China."

From the other room she hears a loud sigh, and a few minutes later Danuve is at the doorway of the hotel suite, loading the luggage cart with his belongings. "You know, Megan, you don't need to be so mean."

"I'm not being mean. I'm simply being mature, which you seem incapable of being."

"Right. Right." He grumbles. "Make sure you brush up on your Chinese on the plane flight, alright?"

Megan smiles. "Sometimes I think the only reason you convinced me to leave Wammy's and join up with you is because of my language capabilities."

"It's a pretty big reason, but definitely not the only one." Danuve wiggles his eyebrows suggestively, getting a loud laugh from his assistant in return.

"Oh right. Of course. You just want me for my body, don't you Mr. Pretty Gay Man?"

Danuve fakes surprise, widening his eyes and covering his mouth with his hand. "How'd you know?"

At this Megan shakes her head and begins to walk down the hallway, leaving Danuve to deal with their luggage cart. She may be his assistant, but there is no way she will be his servant.

A little while later, after she checks them out of the hotel and Danuve has the taxi packed with their luggage, the two sit in the backseat of the taxi and head for the airport.

**Author's Note:**

**Please review! **

**Oh, and just so you know, I'm done with putting disclaimers in this story. I know I don't own anything related to Death Note or any other series/book/etcetera, as do all of you.**

**Also, depending on who is around in the story will determine whether I have the one character go by Danuve or Deneuve. Around K he will be Danuve and around L he will be Deneuve. In this fanfic, it is assumed that Danuve is his actual name while Deneuve is his work name / alias. Both are pronounced the same. **

**In addition, K / Megan is also the same person, though Megan is her actual name and K is her work name. Which I have her go by depends on who she is around. L doesn't know that Megan and K are the same person, so he refers to K and Megan as if they are different people. Deneuve refers to Megan by her alias only when dealing with work.**

**V**


	6. Four

_**Approximately One Month Later**_

"Roger, I think it may be time to move things ahead of schedule. I have been observing L for the past few weeks and it appears that there is a great possibility of him being Kira." Watari says into the telephone hurriedly.

"Are you sure?" Roger questions.

"Not entirely, but considering the circumstances… I think it's best to prepare the top three for what may be inevitable. Originally just one of them was to become L's successor, but if L is Kira, then all three of them will have to work together to take him down. It's a bit of a problem that they are so young right now, but it is my hope that they can end this whole Kira situation."

"If L is Kira, then can't you just kill him?"

"L has already made contact with the NPA and gained their trust. He's even met with them face-to-face. Just a short while ago he even sent FBI agents to probe members of the NPA and their families. Then he killed them _and_ their loved ones. Now he even has some families under surveillance. Likely he has a plan to place the blame on someone already – probably the son of the head of the Kira investigation task force."

"That still doesn't explain why –"

"He probably already knows that I suspect him. If so, I will soon be a dead man, unable to stop him. If he's Kira, I will be dead before I can kill him. This will probably be the last time we speak. Thank you for being such a good friend to me and for all you've done with helping run the orphanage."

"…I'll be sure to go with things as planned…"

**-APPLES-**

A looks at his pictures which sit on the low brick wall beside him, frowning as he sees Mr. Wammy's remaining lifespan decrease sharply. *This can only be the work of Kira – no, L.*

He shivers violently. The cold is really starting to get to him. Living like a homeless man, hitchhiking, having no money and nowhere to go… Is this really what he wanted? Is this better than being at Wammy's? Not really, but now he is glad to have had faked his death, and grateful that Mr. Wammy never revealed his true name to anyone. Sure B's name was revealed, but that was because B revealed it himself… stupidly. There was a reason why B was B, why B was in second place. A was A because, well, he was number one. And no matter how great the other successors may be, they will never be able to compete with A. At least, not to the level needed to challenge him thoroughly. Only L. And now L is Kira.

*I wish B were here. At least that psychopath could entertain me so I could keep my mind off this damnable cold.*

**-APPLES-**

"Hey, Light?" Arina asks through her cellphone. "I was wondering if you'd like to hang out some time? Go to Spaceland or something?"

Light smiles. He can hear the nervousness in her voice. "Like a date?"

"Um, yeah. Yes!"

Light chuckles. "When would you like to go out? This coming Saturday perhaps?

"Most definitely."

"Alright. It's a date."

**Author's Note:**

**So sorry for the short chapter after such a long wait. This year was very busy with it being my final year of high school what with having much writers block, loads of homework, club stuff, dealing with trying to get scholarships, getting into college, etcetera. Now I'm working on packing and preparing for college and trying to pull some chapters out of my brain for my readers who have been begging me to update my various stories.**

**Review, please!**

**(Anonymous reviews are allowed)**


	7. Five

"Zo zo zo. Hey, A." B says as he appears before A, after placing a Death Note in his lap.

A's eyes widen. "B? What? What have you become? You look awful."

"I'm a shinigami now. It's what comes along with the eyes… well at least if you're born with them anyway."

"Do you mean to tell me that I'll become one too when I die?"

"Most likely."

"What are the chances?"

"What are the chances of a human having shinigami eyes? What are the chances that two non-related people who don't have Death Notes would both have shinigami eyes and would encounter each other? What does it matter? I just came to see you and let you know that L is Kira."

"I figured as much. But why are you telling me this? If you're a shinigami, can't you just kill him yourself?"

"I could probably kill him myself, but I figure it's more fun to let the humans deal with this situation. As for why I'm telling you this, I imagine that the look on L's face, seeing you alive and me as a shinigami, would be priceless."

"So you just want to mess with him? And what's with this notebook? A 'Death Note'? Is this the type of thing L's been using to kill people? And you better not expect me to use this thing. I have no interest."

"Yes and I know."

"So you just want to follow me around as I try to expose L as being Kira? What if I don't have any interest in that?"

"You've always claimed that you don't like to get involved in things, but we both know that isn't true. There's no way you won't try to do this. And with the knowledge that you'll still exist even if L kills you before you can expose him ensures this. The only thing holding you back was the fear of death and now you have no reason to fear death, so why not?"

"I see your point. Very well then. I accept the challenge."

**-APPLES-**

"Danuve?"

"Yes, Megan?"

"You know how a while ago when I spoke with L and he asked if you were still upset over what happened and I said that you weren't?"

"And?"

"Well, are you? Are you not upset? I know you like to put up a cheerful front so others don't feel awkward. If you aren't okay, that's okay. You can talk to me about it. It wasn't your fault."

"Thank you for worrying, but I'd rather not talk about it right now. Is that alright?"

"Yes. Just know that I'm here for you."

"I'll let you know when I'm interested in talking about it. Now, there is something that I do want to talk about."

"And that is?"

"Apparently criminals are dropping dead in an unusual fashion around the world, and in high numbers. Now, I know that L has said that he's taking care of this case, but something just doesn't feel right. There's also the mystery around those samples he sent us. The particles are not of known origins and the substance used to make them is strange. These deaths are peculiar and so are these particles. I wonder if somehow they are connected. Granted the media attributes the deaths to someone they call 'Kira' but it seems more likely to be some sort of worldwide governmental conspiracy. Perhaps some organization is enacting the killings. At the same time though, it's peculiar how L sent the samples to us himself rather than having Watari do it for him. I know this to be the case since if he were to have Watari do it for him, he would have had us tell Watari where to send the samples rather than have us tell him. L doesn't like to do things that he can have Watari or someone else do for him as his time is important, and things like mailing something are boring and tedious for him. This means that he didn't want Watari to know about the samples or he couldn't have Watari do it for him. If Watari was incapacitated or dead, we would know as Roger would have notified you. This means that either L or Watari is in cahoots with 'Kira' or whoever is doing the killings. Watari could be, but that doesn't seem likely. We probably would've known if he was connected to 'Kira' as someone would have told us. More likely, L is connected to 'Kira'. However, if someone L knew was 'Kira', the case would be solved and done with by now, which means that there is a great chance that L is Kira… I could be wrong, but that seems to be a reasonable conclusion."

Just then, Megan receives a text message that she knows is from A. It says: L is Kira.

**Author's Note:**

**Sorry for not having updated this for so long. I get writer's block and have a busy life.**

**Reviews would be nice. **


	8. Six

After seeing the text, Megan decides to call the number the text came from.

A picks up. "Hello?"

"A?"

"Megan?"

"Hey… how did you get this number?"

"I've had it for a while… What's up?"

"What's up?' Seriously? You just sent me a text saying that L is Kira. What do you think?"

"Okay okay. So… are you working for anyone?"

"If you're asking whether I'm with L or if I'm with Deneuve, my reply is the latter."

"Good. Is there some way that we could – oh, I don't know – team up?"

"Sure. Where are you?"

"Currently I'm in the U.S. – living like a bum. Didn't bother to think how life would be for me after I faked my death."

"Why'd you wait so long to contact me then? You could have been working with me and Deneuve this whole time."

"Couldn't risk it. I didn't know how close you two were with L."

"How sure are you that we aren't close with L?"

"You aren't exactly a good liar, Megan. Never have been. Plus, you called me back so quickly after receiving my text that the likelihood of some plan being formed is low. Also, what would be the point? What threat am I to L? I have nothing. No connections, no money, no identity. I pretty much don't exist in the eyes of the world."

"Alright. I'll see about finding a way for us to meet up. I'll let you know when and where is good. Unfortunately, in order to not draw suspicion, the so-called 'Kira case' is something that will have to be dealt with gently. We can't draw suspicion to ourselves. Is that understood?"

"Yes."

"Very well then. Goodbye for now."

**-APPLES-**

Roger collects Near, Mello, and Matt for a meeting in his office. He hates children; he really does dislike them. It's only as a favor to his friend, Quillish Wammy, that he deals with them as much as he does. In his opinion, none of these three children are truly qualified to take down L if L is indeed Kira. Even together (or perhaps, especially together) they aren't qualified either. They're what? 15? 14? 13? 12? And none of them can really get along with each other. Even as he tries to tell them about the situation at hand, Matt's playing some videogame, Near's working on his blank puzzle, and Mello is yelling about how he shouldn't have to work with either of the two other boys. None of them seem to be truly listening to what he has to say. This is troubling to Roger, and he's wishing that either "A" or "Megan" (neither of these are their true names of course) were around. Unfortunately, A is dead (as far as he knows) and he isn't too sure that he should tell Megan about the situation. After all, she's working for the real Deneuve, who (as far as he knows) is working for L. It wouldn't do for this information to get back to him. In the end, he sends the children away and tries to come up with a way to get them to get along.

**Author's Note:**

**I know that I said at one point that "Megan" was K's actual name in a previous author's note, but I've decided for this to not be the case. Or, if it is her real name, no one in the story knows that it's her real name. Something I was wondering though is if L knows the real names of his successors. If you know whether L does or does not know the real names of his successors, please let me know. Whether he does or doesn't could change the direction the plot goes. Me not knowing either way also affects the direction the plot goes. **


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